


Switching Sides

by rainbow_teatime (peachymintyskies)



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-23
Updated: 2016-06-13
Packaged: 2018-05-28 15:44:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6334807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachymintyskies/pseuds/rainbow_teatime
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Special Ops Division of the J.I.A have been tracking down a mysterious organisation who have been responsible for massive hacking incidents and the assassination of prominent political and financial figures. What then happens when one of their members was suddenly kidnapped?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Beginning with the End

The midnight sky hung gloomily above a tall man, who presently stood on the rooftop of a building, crouching down behind the low wall that surrounded the place.  
  
His thick eyebrows drew into small frown as he quietly set up his sniper rifle. He looked through the peephole, focusing the crosshair to the window of the glamourous hotel opposite him.  
  
"Jun-kun, how is the target looking?"  
  
Jun bit lightly on his lip in concentration as he squinted and pressed on a small button on his earpiece. He then blinked twice, and a blinking video camera icon appeared in his field of vision.  
  
"Oh, you're beaming it to us, huh. Nino-kun, bring up the camera feed from Jun's contact lenses."  
  
"Ara, so the smart contact lenses work huh," Nino's voice said, "good job done on that, Green-kun."  
  
"Aside from that," Jun said, "Nino-kun, how are things down at the van?"

  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  
Ninomiya Kazunari looked out from the window in the vehicle he was in. He had ensured his taxi was parked outside a cafe and that the lights were off.  
  
"No one suspicious is coming in at the moment," Nino said, "all that aside, Red-kun … of all the possible cars we could ever use.. why a taxi?"  
  
Sakurai Sho's voice came in clear through his earpiece with a sigh.  
  
"I know it isn't glamourous," he said, "but no one will think anything out of the ordinary about a taxi that has stopped by the curb with its lights off."  
  
"I get that, but what if someone asks ME for a ride?!"  
  
"That's what I'm here for ne?" a soft voice said beside him, and Nino shrugged as he looked over beside him.  
  
"Oh-chan-"  
  
"Nino-kun, it's 'Blue-kun'. When outdoors within 100m of hearing distance from others, use our colour codenames," Sho said.  
  
"But we're in a taxi!" Nino hissed as he tried to stop himself from looking around the windows unnecessarily, "no one can hear us from outside!"  
  
"You never know these days with the H.R.C.," Sho said, "they could be sending their street urchins down to stalk you and Ohno-kun."  
  
"And you think they won't have the resources to intercept our wireless communication?" Nino whispered, and suddenly he squinted closely from behind the tinted windscreen at two men in tuxedos.  
  
"Is it them?" Nino said as Ohno looked over from beside him, leaning closely so he could see.  
  
"Yeah. Looks like Matsuda and Kobayashi."  
  
"Oh? Good," Sho said, "Jun-kun, you know what to do, don't you? I hope those 4 compact tranquiliser darts are enough."  
  
Jun grinned as he watched the men make their way into one of the hotel rooms just above the target's.  
  
"Red-kun, you know I never miss," he said as he watched the two men strip off their tuxedos to reveal their full-length bodysuits.  
  
He positioned the crosshair on one of the men's shoulder and pulled the trigger, and the silent tranquiliser dart cut swiftly through the air and the man slowly flopped onto the bed.  
  
The man beside him looked over at his companion in shock and looked at the window, only to double over as he felt a sharp pain in his chest as another tranquiliser dart attached itself to his chest.  
  
"All done," Jun said, "shall I clear out now?"  
  
"Immediately," Sho said, "Nino-kun, give about five minutes for the tranquiliser to work. You know what to do next."  
  
"Got it," Nino said as he started up the taxi and drove the vehicle to the hotel's carpark. When he finally parked the car, he turned to Ohno.  
  
"Oh-ch-Blue-kun, go change first. We'll meet up outside at the entrance!"  
  
Ohno nodded and hurried over to the nearest restroom by the lift lobby. Nino took the chance to slip out from the driver's seat into the back and changed out into another t-shirt and slacks. He then bolted out of the car and hurried over to the side of the hotel entrance where Ohno stood waiting.  
  
"Sorry I'm late," Nino said, "shall we?"  
  
Ohno nodded and started breathing shallowly as he and Nino made a slow jog towards the entrance and slowly sped up as they burst through the doors and ran for the reception counter.  
  
"I'm sorry," Nino said, "but we need to pick up two friends who are badly drunk here in this hotel."  
  
The receptionist struggled to keep her composure.  
  
"I-I can call their rooms to see if they'll let you in," she said shakily.  
  
"But they could have possibly fallen asleep!" Ohno said hurriedly, "and without us to take care of them, they'll.."  
  
"Excuse me?" a voice called out and a woman strode over to them, her lips pursed thinly, "I'm the manager of this hotel. May I help you?"  
  
"Ma'am," Ohno said, "we need to get to two of our friends who are completely drunk!"  
  
"It is not in our policy to-"  
  
"Please!" Nino pleaded, "if we don't, goodness knows what they'll do! Koba-kun has sleeping problems and he has sleeping pills! What if he…what if he.."  
  
"A-alright alright!" the manager said, "I understand your concerns. It's no problem if I come with you, right?"  
  
"Y-yes please!" Nino said, watching the manager produce a master key and gesture them to the lift.

  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  
"Thank you!" Nino called as he waved to the manager from the taxi and the taxi drove off. Ohno looked at the taxi driver.  
  
"Sir, change of location. Please stop by the cafe over there please."  
  
The taxi driver nodded and turned over to the cafe where Nino and Ohno were first at. Soon after he left, the pair stood awkwardly with two sleeping men slung over their shoulders.  
  
Just then, a white van passed by the cafe, its headlights blinking thrice.  
  
"Let's go," Nino said as he followed the van with his eyes over to a darker, more secluded alley nearby. With a huff, he brought the man on his shoulders towards the waiting van. The door slid open and a tall man looked over from within with a smile.  
  
"Green-kun, you're late!" Nino said, "and shouldn't you make a turn earlier on?"  
  
"I couldn't risk getting traced," Aiba Masaki said with a grin as he helped the two men into the van, "secure them tight, ne?"  
  
"Understood," Ohno said as he grabbed the handcuffs and ropes from the back and bound the two men.  
  


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  
Back at the Japan Intelligence Agency (JIA) headquarters, Sakurai Sho looked over at the screen with satisfaction and picked up the phone.  
  
"Johnny-san?" Sho said, "it's Sakurai from the Special Ops Division. We've eliminated the threat regarding Matsuura-san."  
  
"Ah, as expected of the Special Ops Division," the pleased voice of his superior echoed pleasantly in his ear, "good work. Bring the suspicious pair to the cell and interrogate them. We need to nab the H.R.C. as soon as we can."  
  
Sho nodded and hung up the phone, looking up at the notice board at his desk.  
  
The H.R.C was an organisation that had been a troublesome group throughout Japan. His eyes roved over the numerous pinned articles and reports about hacking incidents, assassinated political and financial figures.  
  
And then there was that odd letter that made the rounds on the Web.

  
**"The weak will be strong and the strong will be weak.  
Everything you do comes back in a full circle.**

**We will not stay silent at the injustice done to us.  
Be prepared.**

**-H.R.C."**  


  
Sho sighed as he sat down on his chair in deep thought. No one knew who this group is or what they really stood for. They were like a ghost that seemed to lure with something like a shadow, and now they were only waiting for the apparition to pounce.  
  
But whether they will be able to take down the H.R.C is another thing altogether.  
  
Just then, the door swung open, and the four other men in the division walked in.  
  
"Ah, Sho-kun! Good to be back~" Aiba said cheerily as he hurried over to Sho and gave him a bear hug.  
  
"Urgh, workplace romances are so overrated," Nino said with a roll of his eye as he slumped on the nearby couch.  
  
"So what of the two men?" Sho asked as he turned Aiba around, massaging his shoulders in slow circles.  
  
"We've put them in the holding cells. We've conducted a body search and found nothing too suspicious," Ohno said, "we should be able to interrogate them tomorrow morning."  
  
"Alright. I'll interrogate them personally tomorrow about the H.R.C.," Sho said and smiled as he watched Ohno and Nino lounge together on the sofa with Nino's 3DS and Jun walk over to the door.  
  
"Target practice again, Jun-kun?" Aiba called, and Jun nodded with a grin before leaving the room.  
  
"Jun-kun is always so stoic and cool, ne?" Aiba said, and Sho gave a pout.  
  
"So I'm not stoic and cool, huh," Sho said with a sulk and Aiba laughed before giving him a pat on the head.  
  
"Sho-chan you are stoic and cool in being the leader of the Special Ops Division," Aiba said comfortingly and gave him a hug.  
  


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  
The next day, Sho gave the door of the Kobayashi's holding cell a knock. He opened it.  
  
"Good morning, Kobayashi-san," he spoke as he closed the door behind him and turned, "now this could be a short and less painful procedure.."  
  
It was only when Sho fixed his eyes upon the man when his eyes widened in shock.  
  
Kobayashi sat right where he was in his chair with his hands handcuffed and his body limp…but his eyes were glazed and open while his mouth remained agaped with thick white foam on his lower lip.  
  
Sho stared at the dead body in front of him, the pieces clicking together in his head as he bolted out of the room into the neighbouring cell where Matsuda was held. He burst the iron door open only to see Matsuda in a similar, lifeless state as Kobayashi.  
  
He ran for the door.  
  
"Masaki! Call for the coroner immediately! Our suspects are dead!" he hollered as he looked on at the dead body, an uneasy feeling churning in his stomach.  
  
The pair sent were clearly nothing but pawns to the H.R.C.  
Somehow he just knew that this spelled big trouble coming their way.

  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  
A good kilometres away sat a finely-suited man in his chair, his eyes raving over the computer. He frowned as his eyes watched the camera footage show the activities of a glamourous hotel. Just then, his eyes shot up in interest as he watched two men carry two other men out of the lift. He reached for his mouse and dragged the timeline of the footage back until he came to the part where the two strangers entered.  
  
His eyes focused on the one face that stood out to him. He took a screenshot of the picture and saved it on his computer and grinned triumphantly at the computer.  
  
"I see we have a new potential candidate," he murmured to himself, his lips curling in malice.


	2. En Passant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I AM BACK, GUYS. YAY~ *pops champagne* I was compelled to disappear off fanfiction writing because of my university exams in early May (and hours and hours of painful revising that led up to it) But I AM BACK AGAIN! >D It took me a week or two to recap, review and revise the storyline for this series, but I hope you guys will enjoy it. Look forward to the next update! :D

_"Why?!" A ten-year-old Ninomiya Kazunari cried as he watched his parents' coffins being lowered down to the earth, "why did they die?! DAD! MOM!" He cried as he lunged for the coffins but felt strong but gentle arms wrap around his small frame._  
  
"Kazu-kun," a gentle voice said, "they really loved you."  
  
Nino sniffled defiantly and looked up at the woman behind him.  
  
"Sensei…if they did, why did they leave me alone?!"  
  
His teacher only shook her head and bent down to dry his eyes.  
  
"Kazu-kun, they will never leave you here alone without anyone to protect you," she said softly, "that's why they made sure we take care of you ever since the day you were born."  
  
"But…" Nino said, "but it isn't the same! Without Dad's lame jokes and Mom's cooking, it isn't the same!"  
  
With that he ran away from the ceremony and knelt down in a quiet corner, sobbing to himself.  
  
  
Nino's eyes fluttered open, feeling the warm streaks of tears down the side of his eyes.  
  
"Damn… that dream again…" Nino groaned as he sat up and wiped his tears away. The sudden death of his parents might had been something that had happened over ten years ago, but the shock and pain lingered in his mind like a shadow. What had happened, he had no idea. The only thing he was ever told was that his parents were good people who-  
  
*RIIIING*  
  
Nino sighed as he picked up his mobile phone tiredly. If it was Sakurai Sho calling him over to their daily training regimen, he was going to say he would drop out and get some much-needed rest.  
  
"Sho-kun, I'm still really tired from the mission yesterday and I'm planning to rest up today. Goodnight."  
  
"Oh? I'm thinking of taking the day off too, you know," a voice that was definitely not Sho's replied.  
  
"Oh-chan!" Nino exclaimed in surprise as he heard Ohno chuckling away on the other end of the line.  
  
"Good morning, Nino-kun," Ohno greeted, "I was thinking of grabbing ramen for lunch later."  
  
"Must be nice," Nino answered sleepily as he flopped back on the bed and snuggled with his Kirby plushie, "because I'm not taking a step out of my house."  
  
"Not even if you're hungry?"  
  
"Nope. I have cup ramen."  
  
"Wouldn't that be your eighth cup this week?" Ohno asked and Nino could imagine the man pouting on the line.  
  
"No," he corrected lazily, "it's probably my tenth."  
  
"Well.. I'll see you later with some decent food. Don't move," Ohno said with a quiet sigh.  
  
"Thank you Oh-chan~" Nino sang as he hung up and relaxed on the bed.  
  
Ohno Satoshi was odd.  
Very odd.  
Back when they were assigned together as roommates during their training days, it was easy to guess that Ohno would be doing either one for four activities in their room- sleeping, drawing, watching fishing programmes or just stoning on the bunk bed while staring out at the window.  
  
Nino's lips curled up into a soft smile. And yet oddly enough there was something about him that made him feel especially relaxed and at ease even amidst their rather stressful operations.  
  
His sleepy eyes perhaps.  
  
Yeah. Maybe that.  
  
That was Nino's last thought before he fell asleep peacefully on his bed again.

 

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  
"Well?" Sho asked as He watched the coroner inspect the bodies of the two dead men.  
  
"The signs say poisoning.." he said as he edged closer to the foam-lined mouth of one of the victims, "but how the poison is administered.."  
  
"Their limbs were already bound so it is impossible for them to take it in the room. Besides, we did a body search earlier on before bringing them in. No poisons there," Sho said with a thoughtful look.  
  
The coroner only said nothing as he shone a flashlight, the brilliant white light flowing onto the agape mouth.  
  
"…Sakurai-san, I think something might interest you," the man said as he took his tools and prodded inside the mouth carefully. Before long, he extracted the object and placed it on a small metal tray before handing it to Sho. Sho winced slightly as he carefully picked it up with a pair of tweezers.  
  
It was an oddly shaped metallic object with a curved surface, wrapped in a piece of plastic film. He squinted closely at the flat base to see a small slot. Picking up a scalpel, he deftly cut off the film and prodded at the slot, and a nanoSD card fell out from within.  
  
"Wow…" the coroner said as he looked at the body on the table, "how do you think he did that? I found it behind his left molar."  
  
"The metallic casing seems fashioned to be easy on the molars when held at the back of it like a wisdom tooth," Sho said and looked at the foam surrounding the mouth,"maybe that is how they held the poison too."  
  
The coroner prodded around in the other side of the man's mouth, scraping out some whitish remains on the right molar.  
  
"Smart," the coroner added, "no one looks at the teeth during body searching. One can sneak in a cyanide wafer and no one would have noticed. It was also wrapped in plastic so it won't poison them unless they bit hard into it."  
  
"Huh… well, they died to give us a message. It will be rude not to read it," Sho sighed as he picked up the NanoSD card and placed it in a bag, "I'll get Aiba-san to run this through. Thank you, sensei. You have been a great help."

 

 

  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  
Nino awoke to some knocking on the door. It took a moment before he remembered that he was having a guest over. He shuffled sleepily to the door and opened it to see Ohno Satoshi himself at the doorstep in his t-shirt and slacks.  
  
"Hello Oh-chan," Nino greeted while holding the door, rubbing away some sleep from his eyes.  
  
"Nino, were you sleeping again after I called you?"  
  
"Yes~" Nino said as he sat down on his living room couch, and Ohno laughed as he shook his head, taking out a bowl of hot ramen.  
  
"This is from a different shop," Ohno said, "but I heard their beef soup stock is awesome and decided we should give it a try."  
  
"Oh? Sounds good," Nino said as he took a slurp at his bowl and nodded in approval. Ohno grinned in satisfaction as he started on his own.  
  
"So, what are your plans for today?" Ohno asked.  
  
"Honestly? I'm just going to stay here indoors and not go out," Nino answered, "maybe play my games and read my manga. What about you, Oh-chan? Are you going to be drawing fishes again? "  
  
Ohno nodded and quietly took out his sketchbook and pencils. Nino packed up the disposable bowls and took out his Nintendo 3ds, making himself comfortable on the floor right beside his partner.  
  
"What are you going to draw this time?" Nino asked as he started up his game and stared at the loading screen.  
  
"A fish."  
  
Nino chuckled in response.  
  
"You know, ever since we started rooming together in our training days, you have been drawing nothing but fishes. Don't you draw anything else?"  
  
"I do," Ohno answered as he stroked the pencil softly on the surface of the paper, "but I'm more relaxed when drawing fishes."  
  
"There is fishing and it's your day off," Nino said as he watched his avatar charge forward into a field of monsters.  
  
"I prefer drawing," Ohno said with a soft smile as he glanced up at Nino from the corner of his eye,"and you will be a hunchback if you keep slouching. Doesn't your back hurt?"  
  
"Well it does sometimes," Nino said as he straightened up himself. Ohno went to his bed and grabbed the Kirby plushie and scooted behind Nino to put it on his lower back. And he surprised Nino by settling down behind him, sitting up straight against Nino's back.  
  
"Ohno-kun?"  
  
"Go on," Ohno said, "we don't want you to have an aching back on our missions."  
  
Nino nodded slowly as he shifted himself over to rest his back against Ohno's, his lips curling up into a satisfied smile as he felt the warmth of Ohno's back relax the kinks in his own spine.  
  
"You know, your back feels nice," Nino commented, "Jun'-kun's and Sho-kun's are too muscular and hard and Aiba-kun's feel a bit bony. Your back is comfy enough."  
  
Ohno chuckled. "You tried out everyone else's back just to come to that conclusion?"  
  
"Nah, but it is easy to tell. Sho-kun and Jun-kun work out a lot and Aiba-kun is rather tall and a bit skinnier than the others. It takes a good amount of fat for a comfy back."  
  
"…. So I'm fat?"  
  
"I said 'a good amount of fat', Oh-chan."  
  
Ohno said nothing more but grinned widely to himself as he quietly flipped a page and drew a small sketch of Nino to ease off the warm blush rising to his face.

 

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  
"Masaki~" Sho called as he knocked on the laboratory door and pushed it open to see his boyfriend looking up at him from over a couple of conical flasks.  
  
"Ah, Sho-kun!" Aiba greeted happily as he placed the chemicals down and hurried over.  
  
"Obviously the two men are dead," Sho said with a slight wince and held up a small ziploc bag, "but it seems they brought something for us."  
  
Aiba took the bag and examined it. "Hmm..It doesn't look damaged. I think we can access whatever it is inside. I'll plug it in the computer in the back and see."  
  
Before long, Aiba and Sho stood before the huge computer screen looming above them, looking at the only file that was stored in that small memory card- a video. Sho's forehead creased deeply into a frown as he stared up at the figure-its face hidden behind a plain white mask.  
  
" _Greetings.  
  
We are the H.R.C,_ " the masked, voice-scrambled man spoke,  
  
_"The truth is, we all live in different worlds that are bound by different rules. So what might be considered 'fair' to you would more likely to be 'unfair' to the rest of us._  
  
'It's alright,' you might say, 'life never is fair. It is about making do with it.' You quietly accept this as a fact of your own life. You swallowed up that notion like an unthinking idiot because you believe that you have been entitled to where you are right now in life.  
  
We will change that. We will level the whole playing field for good.  
We are not some group which congregates in a secluded area.  
We are all around you.  
We are everywhere in your city.  
We are the forgotten voices and faces of this country.  
The weak will be strong and the strong will be weak.  
Everything you do comes back in a full circle.  
We will not stay silent at the injustice done to us.  
Be prepared."  
  
"What could they possibly be talking about?" Aiba mumbled, "forgotten voices and faces.."  
  
"At any rate, we are only left with this one video and nothing else," Sho said, "we have no other leads as to what the H.R.C. Is or where it could possibly be."  
  
Sho sighed as he combed his fingers through his hair irritably, only to feel Aiba's hand patting him gently on the shoulder.  
  
"Don't worry, Sho-chan. We will nab them very soon," Aiba said with the bright, sunny smile that Sho had loved so well, "we are a small step closer to it. It is a small step, but it's still a step. Ne?"  
  
Sho nodded as rested his hand over Aiba's on his shoulder and looked up at the masked figure that seemed to stare through the screen at them.

 

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  
A sharp knock rattled the metal door, and the finely suited man spun around from a huge computer screen to face the door.  
  
"Kuroda?" came a smooth voice.  
  
"Ah. Nagakura. Come in," the man said as he spun back around to the screen, his brows knitting as he looked at the screenshot on his computer. Nagakura walked in, a small file in hand.  
  
"Kuroda, here is the information you asked for."  
  
Kuroda looked over at the file and flipped it open to see the same man in the screenshot looking up at him from a mugshot photo. He slowly flipped the pages, his eyes slowly digesting the information provided.  
  
"Ah… This guy will be a troublesome one…" Kuroda remarked, "remember the Night of the Blood Moon?"  
  
"Yeah. What about it and this guy?"  
  
"He is someone we can use but..we are going to have to do some… window-dressing, I suppose," Kuroda said as he tossed the file onto his desk, the contents flipping to the front to reveal Nino's photo.

 

 

  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

"Ah!" Nino winced as he nicked the edge of his index finger on one of Ohno's sketchbook pages.

"Are you alright?" Ohno asked worriedly as he looked at the small cut where a small droplet of blood was leaking from.

"Yeah, I'll just suck on it. It'll be alright," Nino said as he sucked lightly on his index finger while looking at the fishes Ohno drew.

 

Outside the apartment, a few men in black stood in the shadows, peering at the apartment unit Nino and Ohno were in.

"Location of target confirmed," one of them spoke into a small walkie-talkie, "let's retreat."

The men then left in a small van, and the silence of the night returned again as if they weren't there a few minutes ago.


	3. Abduction

Nino and Ohno gazed solemnly at the screen above them, and when the video ended, Sho switched the lights on.  
  
"Clearly," he said, "our efforts to save Matsuura-san were successful. But it got their attention. Chances are, they already expected that this would happen."  
  
"But apart from this video, we have no other leads yet as to who or what the H.R.C is and where they are, right?" Ohno mumbled. Sho nodded gravely.  
  
"We currently have no choice but to keep a hawk's eye on anyone who might possibly be targeted. If we cannot find out who or where they are, we can at least mitigate their attacks and assassinations," Sho said, "the H.R.C are everywhere in the city, apparently. They could be anyone and anywhere."  
  
"You know," Nino piped up,"it is possible that they are just bluffing and attempting to intimidate us all."  
  
Jun shook his head.  
"Two of their men died giving us that piece of information. It is hard to believe that they would send their men with cyanide wafers in their mouths just to give us a video full of lies."  
  
"But… the forgotten voices and faces.. who are they?" Ohno asked curiously. The other four men shrugged and shook their heads.  
  
"Your guess is as good as mine," Sho answered as he shut down the computer on front of him,"but in time we will find out. For now we are going to have to do whatever we can."  
  
"I think checking out traffic camera footages from our mission might help," Jun suggested, "am quite sure those two men could be traced back somehow."  
  
"I need to go to Shourai Bank," Nino said, "I hear that some idiot broke into their banking system and messed up their administrative rights. "  
  
"That IS serious," Sho said, "carry on then. Ohno-kun and I will join Jun in the AV room. We'll beep you if we found anything. Meeting adjourned."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  
Nino strode into the bank, making his way to the lift lobby. Just then, a tall man joined him a few steps away. The man looked at him in quiet surprise and Nino only said nothing and stared ahead.  
  
"Excuse me," the man began, "I have not really seen you working around here."  
  
"I don't work here," Nino answered, "I'm just doing some technical computer maintenance."  
  
The man rubbed a finger on the stubble on his chin in interest."Oh.. so you are into computers and that sort of thing?"  
  
"Yeah. Well you have to be to maintain the computers and networks of this bank."  
  
"That is true," the man said with a toothy grin as he left the elevator on his floor, "I will see you around."  
  
With that, the elevator doors slid shut.  
  
Outside the elevator, the man turned on his heels, the toothy grin never leaving his face.  
  
"Well?" A voice spoke into his bluetooth headpiece.  
  
"He is here," the man said, "he will leave Shourai Bank about 2 hours or so after closing time."  
  
"Noted. Kuroda, I think it would be good to leave soon. It won't be long before others recognise that you don't work there either."  
  
With that, Kuroda returned to the elevators and pressed the 'down' button.

  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  
"Well… Matsuda and Kobayashi got to their starting position via a black Suzuki," Jun said as his eyes scanned the traffic camera footage retrieved.  
  
"Can you make out the plate number in the shadows?" Sho asked as he squinted hard at the screen.  
  
"I'll screenshot this part and edit it," Jun said, "we can then run this plate number and see if who it belongs to. We are assuming, of course, they didn't steal the car."  
  
Sho looked over at him and nodded. "That is possible too. Later, could you check with the police if they have a list of reported car thefts?"  
  
"Alright," Ohno said and turned his eyes to the screen to see Nino and himself haul the men out into a taxi. The taxi sped out past the hotel, passing the black car parked in an alley a short distance away. The black car then pulled out of the alley and sped off and made a sharp turn away from where the taxi was going.  
  
"Huh, they did not attempt to follow us?" Ohno observed.  
  
"... whether their assassination op was successful or not, they accomplished their objective," Sho said as he walked over to a coffee maker in the room, "they got us to take their pawns. That was all they went there for."  
  
"Uh…Sho-kun, I lost them."  
  
Sho froze for a second before pacing quickly to the screen as Jun rewound the footage back by a minute.  
  
"See, the car went through this tunnel over here and it went through this middle segment here," Jun said as he switched over to another camera at the end of the tunnel, "but that same car did not come out."  
  
"That can't be. "  
  
"I made a note of the plate number in the dim lighting. I am sure it did not reappear outside the tunnel. "  
  
Sho frowned as he scrobbled the footage again, only to find that Jun was right.  
  
"Where is this place?" Sho asked.  
  
"Kan-Endo Expressway."  
  
"Jun-kun, let's go and check out the tunnel. Ohno-kun, I'll leave the list of reported car thefts to you!" Sho said as he dashed out of the office.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  
Nino stretched as he walked back home. He had left Sho a text that he was finished and heading straight home before walking slowly back to his apartment block. He sauntered up the stairs and opened his apartment door.  
  
"I'm baaack~" he said with a sigh of relief as he shuffled over to his bed, plopping his tired self down on the soft sheets of his bed. He deeply inhaled and exhaled as he relaxed himself in the soft sheets of his comforter. He felt the soft breeze blowing in from the window above his bed, ruffling his hair gently and looked up at the starless sky beyond.  
  
His brows soon knitted into a slight frown as he sat up on his bed and looked at the window.  
  
He could have sworn that the window was closed when he left. He slowly edged himself towards the window and peeked his head out. The bare, white-washed walls of the apartment block stretched below him, seeming to pull him down towards the hard concrete below. Nino pursed his lips thoughtfully as he looked around and above the window.  
  
"... Maybe I forgot to close it after all," Nino mumbled as he sat back down on his heels and slid the window half-closed. He then ambled to turn on the light switch. As the light bulb flickers on, Nino looked towards the window, catching sight of his own reflection.  
  
...  
...  
...  
  
And the sight of a masked figure behind him.  
  
Before he could react, the masked man swung a blunt instrument upon the back of his neck and Nino stumbled forward to his desk as the pain numbed. His outstretched hand slid across the table as he steadied himself, knocking off a coffee mug from the table. Nino vaguely heard the cup shatter as he turned to meet his attacker when he felt the soft jab of a needle into his arm. Nino's eyes widened in alarm as he felt his body shutting down bit by bit. He slumped down towards the floor as a group of masked men walked in and began to carry him away. The last thing he saw was a group of masked men pulling a sack over his head before he fell unconscious.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  
  
Ohno looked at the unordered list of stolen cars as he compared them to the camera footage in the AV room. Just then, he heard Sho and Jun walking in from the door of their office.  
  
"Ohno-kun!" Jun said, "it seems there was a blind spot in the tunnel where it forked off."  
  
"And another in each of the branches," Sho added, "it's almost troubling as to why the cameras did not capture them."  
  
"You think the H.R.C are behind it?"  
  
"Hm. It will take a good amount of expertise to hack the traffic cameras," Sho answered.  
  
"You do recall that Shourai just had their administrative systems mixed up, right?" Jun said, "what can't they do with just a couple of cameras?"  
  
"Right, about the cars.." Sho asked as he looked over at Ohno.  
  
"There are just too many plate numbers," Ohno explained, "it's a bit difficult to check."  
  
"Well, me and Aiba-kun can take it from here after he's finished..well. his experimental projects," Sho said as he sat in front of the computer, "you and Jun-kun have worked hard today. Go rest."  
  
"Alright. See you tomorrow morning, Sho-kun!" Jun as he and Ohno left the office.

  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  
Darkness.  
Heaviness.  
Pain.  
Helplessness.  
  
Those four words described the situation that Nino woke up to when his mind attempted to come out of his groggy state.  
  
The darkness he was aware of, because the room he was in was really dimly lit- blackish(or maybe dark-greyish under the small tungsten bulb).  
  
Heaviness and pain rang throughout his head as he looked around the empty room of concrete walls and iron doors. There was something about the room that gave him that heady and heavy sensation in his head at the same time.  
  
"That idiot gave me a concussion..." Nino thought as he struggled to stand up.. only to realise that he could not. He looked down at himself to find that thick brown ropes wrapped themselves tight against his legs and torso, effectively restraining him to the cold metal chair.  
  
Nino weighed his options as he looked around. There was nothing much he could possibly work with. The room was bare. The lights were dim. A metal chair like the one he was one would never break. And then there was that light-headed and heavy-headed sensation he could not put his finger on that-  
  
*BANG*  
The iron door swung open, and Nino glared up at the doorway. Just then, a man walked into the room, and Nino's brow shot up in shock.  
  
"You! I saw you today at the-"  
  
"Yes, we did meet. Kuroda Masayuki. Pleasure to meet you." Kuroda said as he stood in front of Nino and dusted off his suit, "I did say I would see you around."  
  
"WHERE AM I?! WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH ME?! LET ME GO!" Nino barked as he struggled against the ropes that bound him.  
  
"Firstly," Kuroda said with a smirk as he ambled forward and gestured to other men in the room for a chair, "one question at a time. Secondly, believe me when I say that by the time we are through, you will never want to leave."  
  
"Don't give me that crap and let me go now!"  
  
"You don't want to try my patience, Ninomiya Kazunari," Kuroda threatened his tone now dangerously low as he took out a stun gun,"I can choose to knock you out right now without telling you a thing."  
  
Nino glared daggers at Kuroda as he bit back the urge to demand for his release. Before long, Kuroda put away the stun gun before leaning back in his chair.  
  
"Now, to answer your questions," he said crisply,"figuratively speaking, you are sinking deep in trouble for messing with our operations and chasing our tail."  
  
"You know that that is not what I meant," Nino growled, and Kuroda only simpered at his response.  
  
"Well literally speaking you are in an abandoned storage facility underground," he continued, "now converted a storage facility for..you know, the people you have inconvenienced?"  
  
"What the hell are you talking ab-" Nino froze. There was only one possible thing he meant when he spoke of the operations he had thwarted.  
  
"It seems that you got it," Kuroda said as he stood up from his seat, "I have come to give you a warm welcome to the H.R.C."  
  
"I don't need it! I belong elsewhere, now let go!"  
  
"As to what we want from you," he said as he walked towards the door, "it's basically...you."  
  
Nino frowned.  
  
"What do you-"  
  
"Well, that's all for now," Kuroda said as he left the doorway, "I WILL see you around."  
  
"Where do you think you're going?! Let me out now!"  
  
Kuroda gestured to one of the men by the door before walking ahead. The man nodded and went in, producing a filled syringe.  
  
"Wha-wait! WAIT! STOP! What are you doing to me?! Let-"  
  
Nino felt a sharp, quick jab in the arm like he felt before in his flat, just as the room seemed to spin before his eyes. He suddenly felt as if the room had floated up as he seemed to fall through the chair and the floor into a dark void of nothingness.  
  
"H-help..." Nino slurred under his breath just as before his vision faded to black, "h-help me, Oh-ch.."  
  
Outside the room Nino was in, Kuroda was speaking to someone with a file in his hand.  
  
"It looks like the dosage is pretty high already," the man said, and he nodded and directed a glance over to the room.  
  
"How long will it take?"  
  
"Given prolonged exposure with slight dehydration, it will be a matter of days."  
  
"Good," Kuroda said as he walked away, "keep up the good work." He proceeded down a flight of stairs to another room and entered it.  
  
"L2A-W-HOH.." he murmured as his fingers stroked the cold metal equipment in front of him, "we have someone for you now."

  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  
"Nothing?" Jun asked as he sat down with Ohno at a bar with a glass of bourbon on the rocks. Ohno shook his head as he hung up the call.  
  
"It's really odd. He usually picks up when I call him..." Ohno said with a pout as he looked down into his own beer mug.  
  
"Well, I guess we will just start off without him," Jun said.  
  
"I'll just call him again," Ohno said as he picked up his phone and dialled Nino's number.  
  
Nino's phone screen lit up brightly, showing an incoming call from Ohno. It vibrated as it played some video game jingle from where it lay- dropped and skidded under Nino's bed hours ago when he was abducted.  
  
With no one to pick it up, the phone only continued ringing and ringing alone in the darkness of Nino's room. And soon it stopped, with the screen now showing  
  
 _"4 missed calls from Oh-chan"_.


	4. Loss

"Nino-kun?! Nino-kun are you there?! Open up!"

  
Ohno called as he knocked repeatedly on the door to Nino's apartment.

  
For two whole days now, he had not shown up for work at their headquarters. In such cases Nino would usually have left a message that he was taking a sick day off or that he would be taking a few days' break.

  
He knew that Nino is the furthest thing from being active.

He knew that Nino would prefer to stay cooped up in his apartment with his 3DS, Wii, cup noodles and pajamas.

But he also knew that Nino was not someone who would ditch work so irresponsibly.

  
So when the door to Nino's apartment just wouldn't budge and when he heard nothing in Nino's apartment, he could not help but feel extremely worried.

He hurriedly rushed down to the landlady's apartment and rang her doorbell. The landlady peeked out at him from behind the wooden door, her lime green plastic curlers sticking out untidily from her hair.

  
"Who are you?"

  
"Erm, I'm sorry to intrude! I'm a friend of Ninomiya Kazunari. I have not seen him for about two days at work and I'm a bit worried."

  
"Oh, that guy? I have not seen him walk out of his apartment for the past two days either..." the landlady said thoughtfully and retreated back into her house. Ohno faintly heard the jingling of keys from within as the door opened once again.

  
"This is the copy of his key. See if he's alright."

  
Ohno did not need to be told twice.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

_"Ouch!" Nino winced as he laid down on his bed, the pain in his lower back effectively crippling his movements. Ohno looked over beside him in concern as he tried to relax himself._

  
_"Do you need me to get you any medical plasters?" Ohno asked._   


  
_"No I think I'll- Ow- ice it or something. Besides the smell is horrible."_   


  
_"Yes it's horrible but we'll both get used to it," Ohno said as he got up from his desk and headed over to the common pantry where an ice pack lay in the freezer._   


  
_"Okay I got the ice pack." Ohno said as he laid it carefully on Nino's lower back. Nino felt the cold sting of the ice pack on his skin and grimaced as the chills started to run up his body._   


  
_"Bear with it a bit," Ohno coaxed gently as he pressed lightly on the ice pack._   


  
_"Urgh, so cold.. take it off!" Nino grumbled, and Ohno gave Nino shoulder a comforting pat._   


  
_"There there. Shall I massage other areas to take your mind off it?" Ohno asked._   


  
_Nino blinked as he looked over at Ohno for a second before burying his face into the pillow and giving a slow, lazy nod._   


  
_Ohno chuckled as he gently pounded on Nino's upper back. Nino closed his eyes as he let Ohno's hands loosen up the knots in his back, and he drifted slowly to sleep._   


 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

The first thing that Nino was conscious of when he awoke from his dream was neither his watering eyes nor his parched throat, but the dull, throbbing ache in his head. Something about the room was driving him completely insane, but he could not tell what exactly it was. All he knew was that the pressure in his head came and his head would hurt.

  
And in the next moment it would leave.

  
And then in the next it returns again.

  
And leaves.

  
And returns.

  
Over. And over. And over until he-

  
*BANG* The iron door swings open as abruptly as ever. Nino glared up at his captor from his seat.

  
"Now that is no way to greet me," Kuroda said as he took a foldable chair from the corner and sat down imposingly in front of Nino, "not when I have undoubtedly brought you to a much better place than the J.I.A."

  
Nino's eyes widened in muted horror at the realisation that the man before him seemed to know more than what was necessary about the J.I.A.

  
Sure, everyone knows or at least expects that every country will have their share of intelligence organisations. But running them and keeping their presence as discreet as possible not only aided their operations - it assured their personal safety.

  
The fact that Kuroda Masayuki sat before him with knowledge of the J.I.A proved that he had done more digging than anyone back at the HQ could possibly expect.

  
Worse.. the H.R.C. might even be several steps ahead of them.

  
"Now if I were you, I wouldn't worry my head over them," Kuroda said smoothly as he crossed his legs confidently and placed his hands on his lap, "besides, what makes you think that they would worry about you?"

  
"Of course they would! The-" Nino protested but stopped short as Kuroda stood up, his gait and the jut of his chin showing every intention to make his assertions uninterrupted.

  
"You see, the thing with organisations like these," the man said, "intelligence agencies especially-they are huge. Collective. Operations have to be horridly systematic to be able to run smoothly."

  
He then paused right in front of Nino and looked down at him with slight pity in his eyes.

  
"You are only but a small cog in a big machine. In such a massive organisation, what would one puny agent ever mean to them?"

  
"I'm not just one puny agent! I-"

  
"Yes yes, I know. Special Ops Division and whatnot," Kuroda said dismissively with a condescending roll of the eye, "but you do realise anyone can replace you if they are capable enough, right?"

  
Nino was silent.

  
"Everyone is disposable," Kuroda spoke in a cold voice,"the world- their world- will keep spinning without you there."

  
He then leaned down to Nino's right ear.

  
"Besides, if your friends over at the intelligence agency are THAT capable,"he added, "they would have found you by now, wouldn't they?"

  
"You-"

  
"Let's then put things in perspective.What could all this mean? There are several possibilities." Kuroda said as he took out a roll of duct tape and snipped off a small part of it.He gestured to the men by the door, and they promptly strode towards Nino.

  
"What?! What are you up to?!" Nino yelled as he felt his head being held still between the hard, stone-like palms of one of the men. Kuroda only looked over from behind his shoulder and walked towards him, forcefully slapping the piece of duct tape over Nino's mouth.

  
"Shhh..." he hushed,"just until I'm finished."

  
He then took a few steps back with complete composure.

  
"One, the J.I.A is absolutely incapable of finding you," he said as he shrugged and looked over at Nino, "in which case you are wasted over there as talent and in any event their incompetent selves will be eradicated by any force apart from my own if they tried hard enough."

  
Nino showed utmost defiance as his yells and protests came out loud but muffled.

  
"Two, the J.I.A HAVE every ability to locate you as you seem to..convey at the present," Kuroda continued with a smirk, "but for a whole lot of reasons, they do not locate you."

  
Nino frowned in utter disbelief.

  
"Well, maybe they want to save their tail so they don't get tracked at all. Or maybe you really are disposable talent to them and they lose their use for you. Either way, they desert you and you are as good as unemployed."

More muffled protests came from Nino but Kuroda simply ignored them with a nonchalant bat of an eyelid.

  
"Three, the J.I.A have every ability to locate you and are trying their best. But that would be too optimistic now, wouldn't it?" Kuroda said,"two whole days have passed now. For Japan's top intelligence agency, it's more likely that they are slipping."

  
The man then turned to Nino, the smug expression never leaving his face.

  
"So you see, either way you have everything to gain by not staying over there. You ought to be grateful, you know."

  
Nino's muffled protests of defiance came again, and by this time, Kuroda's patience was wearing thin.

  
"It's like I said in the beginning, Ninomiya," he said as he left for the door and signalled at the men by the door, "by the time we are through with you, you will never want to leave."

  
The sharp, now-familiar jab of a syringe needle pricked Nino's skin once more, and his incomprehensible protests slurred slowly into an inaudible moan.. and then silence. His head bowed forward in repose and restful slumber.

  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

"Nino's vacation of absence is taking a little long," Sho grumbled as he looked at the roster.

One day of absence without being notified would have been normal.  
Two days of unnotified absence is slightly more disturbing.

  
Just then, he heard a beep from the computer on his desk. He hurried over to see that he had received a new email.

  
Biting his lip at the unknown sender, he gave it a cautious click.

  
And there in the email was an unsettling image of an unconscious Nino bound in his chair, his mouth duct taped shut. A wooden sign sat on his lap.

  
"HELP ME (:" was sprayed on it in blood red paint.

His hand shook as he reached for the telephone to dial Ohno's number.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  
Ohno looked around the apartment he was in. The windows were open with the laundry hanging outside in the veranda. Nino's gaming controller was stashed away in a messy basket under the table.

  
He then went to Nino's bedroom, and his eyes widened in shock as he looked at the broken bits of porcelain that lay on the floor by Nino's desk.

  
And Nino's bag with his 3DS gaming console that lay on the bed.

  
Nino NEVER goes anywhere without his 3DS. In a panic, he took out his phone and called Nino, only to hear a ringing tone from under Nino's bed. He bent down to see Nino's phone flashing in the dark. He hung up his phone and picked up Nino's phone to see a total of 20 missed calls from himself.

  
Just then, he felt his phone buzz. He picked it up in a heartbeat, hoping to hear the familiar greeting and nickname that Nino would give him.

  
"Ohno-kun! Come back to the office! NOW!"

  
"What? Have you found Nino?"

  
"No!" Sho said with urgency, "come back now- he has been kidnapped!"

  
Ohno froze with the phone held to his ear, and for a while he felt numb to the core. Sho's last sentence sank in his heart, as if a dive bomber had dropped that sentence on him.

  
"...K...Kidnapped...?"

  
"Yes, so get back here now!" Sho demanded as he hung up and looked over at the screen. Aiba stood where he was beside him, a lost look on his face as his eyes wandered over Nino's photo.

  
"H-how did he.."

  
"We will get him back," Sho said with resolve as he grasped Aiba's hand in his own, "I promise you. We will."

  
Ohno held the phone in his hand and looked around Nino's room, his heart heavier than lead.

  
His partner was missing.

  
No-he was kidnapped.

  
"No no, this is no time to panic here," Ohno murmured to himself as he dashed out of the apartment to hurry to the J.I.A. headquarters.

  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  
"Well? How does he look now?" Kuroda asked as he watched Nino sleep in the room he was in.

  
"It won't be long before it kicks in now," the man beside him said, "so long as he starts feeling more confused and unsure, we know it won't be long."

Kuroda nodded and stared through the glass, a wry grin on his face.

  
"The J.I.A..." he murmured, "I will take them down with their own pawn."


	5. Switching Sides

"The I.P. address of this email can be retrieved," Sho said as he looked at the email sender's source,"but as to the exact location where it is sent, we'll need to contact an Internet Service Provider."  
  
"Well technically speaking, we are suspecting someone of something illegal. So we can ask them for the account holder's name and address." Jun added.  
  
"But who could have done this?" asked Aiba as he nervously ran his finger around the rim of his coffee mug.  
  
"It really isn't that big of a jump," Sho said, "Nino-kun got kidnapped right after his last assignment to thwart the H.R.C.'s plans.So logically speaking, it is more likely to be them."  
  
He then stood up and headed for the door.  
  
"I'm going to tell Johnny-san about this. He needs to know we are one man down at the moment and that we are getting that one man back."  
  
Ohno nodded absently as he looked at the photo attached to the email on Sho's computer.  
  
"Nino..." he mouthed quietly to himself as he buried his face in his palms.He could only imagine what Nino was going through in that cold, dark place. And the very thought of it almost drove his mind insane with anxiety.  
  
"You are really worried for Nino-kun, aren't you?" Aiba asked.  
  
"Aren't we all?"  
  
"Yes but you are clearly the most anxious out of us all," Jun said with a knowing smile,"don't worry about it. We'll get your Nino back soon."  
  
"...he's not MY Nino," Ohno murmured quietly and shuffled over to his usual couch and lounged on it.  
  
The couch just did not feel as comfy as it did when Nino was on it.Or maybe it was the crippling sense of worry that had numbed his nerves.  
  
Ohno closed his eyes as he tried his hardest to sleep, saying a quiet prayer that Nino would be safe.  
  
He was too important to him.

 

  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  
_"What the hell are we to do with this?!" Nino demanded as the timer on the pipe bomb ticked away._  
  
_"There must be some way to know how to stop this," Ohno muttered as he looked at the wires around the bomb. The red wire was there on the bomb, set between nodes that held a yellow and a blue wire.The green wire wound into the red LED display that presently counted down the seconds._  
  
_His wire cutter hovered slightly over the red wire, and after some pondering Ohno moved it over the green wire instead._  
  
_"Nino.. what do you think?"_  
  
_Nino said nothing but edged himself closer to Ohno, placing an arm around his shoulder._  
  
_"Do it then," Nino said as his hand held Ohno's shoulder firmly, as if he entrusted his life in the hands of his partner._  
  
_The timer beeped on._  
 _5...4.._  
  
_Finally, Ohno took a deep breath as he positioned the cutter around the green wire_  
  
_3...2.._  
  
_and gave it a decisive snip._  
  
_1._  
  
_The pair sat there watching number on the screen._  
  
_'1'._  
  
_The two men slumped on the ground as relief made their legs give way beneath them._  
  
_"Oh God.. we're alive," Nino said shakily, "we are alive oh my God we are alive.."_  
  
_"I was right in not cutting the red wire," Ohno said between shallow pants._  
  
_"But.. why? How did you know that you shouldn't cut it?"_  
  
_Ohno bit his lip as he looked at the non-functioning bomb._  
  
_"I just..." Ohno started as he looked at the remaining wires, "I just thought that the red wire wouldn't do. That's all."_  
  
_He answered with the smoothest answer he could think of. Nino did not need to know that he had reservations about cutting the red wire because it held in his mind to be just like the red thread of fate._

 

  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  
The next time Nino opened his eyes, he closed them again as the surroundings around him seemed to blur into double vision.It took him a good ten seconds to realise that he was not shut inside a room with a bomb.  
  
He could still vaguely feel the ropes around him, but yet it feels as if he were light enough to float out of those ropes and around the room.  
  
Just then, the door swung open, and Nino winced as words seemed to fire out towards him. And yet, some part of him felt as if the words seemed to soar right past his head without him catching or processing them.  
  
Maybe if he could float himself out of those ropes he could just grab at them or something. He could almost feel himself levitate slightly off his chair, only to feel rough hands hold him back onto the chair.In the next moment, he felt his dry, parched lips part as someone slipped him a pill and downed some water down his mouth.Having been parched and thirsty for days, Nino gulped down the water greedily until the pill was well down his throat.  
  
For a split second, his mind cleared up a bit before it drifted slowly back into the warm, light-headed fog. His vision went back again as he felt himself being lifted up as if he really were floating. His mind then drifted off into a world of strange dreams and nameless faces.

 

  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  
"This is troubling news," Johnny said as he heard what Sho said, "one of our Special Ops Agents being abducted.."  
  
"Yeah, but we're all going to try to save him," Sho said, "we'll track down where he is and the-"  
  
"It's too risky."  
  
Sho narrowed his eyes in disbelief as he tried to comprehend what his boss had meant.  
  
"I'm.. not quite sure I follow, Johnny-san," Sho said, "surely you are not implying that we leave Nino in the hands of his kidnappers?"  
  
"The problem is," Johnny said as he placed his mug down on his table with a decisive 'thunk',"we do not know for sure who the kidnappers are."  
  
"In the light of recent events, I believe it's the H.R.C. and we could bring them all to justice if we-"  
  
"What if your assumptions are wrong?" Johnny questioned,"what if we are not dealing with the H.R.C but someone or some group that is bigger and more dangerous?"  
  
Sho cast his eyes down. He had not thought about it. There was a good chance that a slip-up could very well jeopardise the rest of the Special Ops Division and even Nino himself.  
  
But yet..he could not even bear with the idea of leaving a teammate captured in the hands of anyone they could be up against.  
  
"Sakurai-san, you are a smart man," Johnny said after a long pause, "we need to ensure the safety of the Special Ops Division."  
  
"The Special Ops Division is not and will not be what it is without Nino."  
  
"You are right. But it also is not what it is without the rest of you. Do you want to put your identities in danger?"  
  
Johnny sighed as he sipped on his cup of espresso.  
  
"You know," he continued," the higher-ups and I took great pains in rebuilding this intelligence organisation to what it is today. We cannot afford a repeat of that night."  
  
Sho paused as he absorbed this new piece of information. 'Rebuild' the organisation? Why was there a need to rebuild it? And more importantly...  
  
"What night?" Sho asked.  
  
"The Night of the Blood Moon. Some twelve years ago," Johnny answered, "a terrible night of bloodshed that annihilated almost all our agents. All because of one missing agent."  
  
Sho's blood ran cold.  
  
"So you see here that the facts of the present case and the one I have mentioned are pretty similar," Johnny said, "and my advice is that you do not go through with it. It's for the safety of your division and for the rest of the J.I.A. too."  
  
Sho stood there in silence and left the office, his heart heavier than lead.  
  
Back in the room, the other three members looked up at Sho.  
  
"Johnny-san suggests that we don't," Sho stated.  
  
Jun and Aiba looked at him, completely baffled. Ohno looked as if Sho had just shot him in the chest.  
  
"But, Sho-kun," Ohno began shakily," Nino is.."  
  
"I can understand his worries," Sho said, "because Nino is important, and the rest of you are too."  
  
"But we cannot just leave him like that!" Ohno protested angrily.  
  
"Let me finish," Sho said with resolve,"I'm not saying that we halt our investigations in finding Nino.But we must be careful."  
  
"We always are, aren't we?" Jun quipped. Sho then related to them what Johnny had told him about the Night of the Blood Moon.  
  
"I have absolute faith in Nino-kun and his loyalties," Sho said, "but the higher-ups may not feel the same. Therefore, we need to keep our...private investigations under the table and remain focused on hunting down the H.R.C."  
  
Jun and Aiba nodded slowly as they understood the new direction their division was going in. Ohno, on the other hand, was pondering over something.  
  
"Sho-kun, the Night of the Blood Moon..when was it?" Ohno asked.  
  
"Twelve years ago," Sho said, "why?"  
  
"Oh, nothing much," Ohno replied as he shifted towards his desk, his eyes now quite distant. He absently fumbled in a drawer and took out an old manila envelope. He quietly took out a photograph from within and looked at it in deep thought.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  
The next day, Sho looked at the email he had received from the ISP he contacted.  
  
"Higurashi Radiology Clinic?" he read in a skeptical tone,"THAT's what the H.R.C stands for?"  
  
"Why do I get the feeling that we're being fooled?" Jun remarked unimpressedly as he looked at the email, "but the email was indeed sent from there, so.."  
  
"Logically speaking that should lead us to Nino's kidnapper. But..a radiology clinic? Wherever the picture of Nino was taken, it looked nothing like a clinic for patients," Sho said as he crossed his arms in thought.  
  
".. I think we should investigate it though."  
  
Jun and Aiba looked at Ohno in a mix of surprise and disbelief.  
  
"Uh, Ohno-kun? We are all eager to get Nino back, but we can't handle things too rashly," Aiba said.  
  
"Ohno-kun is right," Sho said decidedly,"at the moment our leads are limited. Let's at least figure out the person behind the email."

 

  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  
His eyes flew open, and brilliant white light from the window beside him shone into his eyes. He sat up on the bed he was in and looked around.  
  
The room he was in was pretty bare but at least it had the comforts of a normal room- a bed, a desk and a bathroom.  
  
But those weren't the first questions that sprung into mind.  
  
"Wh..where am I?" he wondered as he looked around the unfamiliar walls and ceiling. And as then his mind jumped into panic as he muttered anxiously to himself.  
  
"More importantly..I...who.. who am I?!"  
  
Just then. he felt something hang from his neck. He looked down at it to see a small access card hung on a lanyard. On one side was just a normal magnetic strip.  
  
On the other was a picture (of himself, he assumed), with the words "Kagura Ryuhei" written beside it.  
  
"Kagura...Ryuhei..? Is that...me?"

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  
Kuroda watched from the control room as the man awoke from his slumber.  
  
"It's done," Kuroda said quietly to himself,"Ninomiya Kazunari is no more. Kagura Ryuhei, however..will be our asset."


End file.
